June 21st 2024
Delivering high quality, tailored care is what every care provider aims for. In a time-poor sector, simplifying processes with an effective all-in-one system can provide real benefits to care providers. Lauren Stockwell, Care Manager and Sonny Pettman, Registered Manager at Britannia Care share their journey on finding and implementing Birdie’s all-in-one system and how this has impacted the care they are able to provide to residents and staff.
The need for a digital system
Before going digital, Britannia were using a hybrid paper-digital system, which, over time became more difficult and expensive to use. The system, which used to be solely paper based began using an app that required staff to manually input information.
The software also required Britannia Home Care to pay a third-party to manage the app, and they had to pay separately to store their data as well as incur a hefty annual fee to upgrade the system.
Considering the increasing difficulty of use and increasing costs for data storage, Britannia made the decision to seek an alternative 100% digital system. As Lauren shares:
“It was a difficult decision to make as we had a good working relationship with our previous supplier, but we needed a system that was a better fit for our needs and could save us time and money.”
Transitioning from paper to paperless Researching the available options Lauren and Sonny decided Birdie would be a good fit for the business as the Birdie system incorporated care management, rostering, finance, auditing and integrating systems from third parties.
Britannia and Birdie agreed to conduct a phased roll-out to maximise learning and allow the team to become confident using different aspects of the system. Birdie agreed to giving 3 months half price whilst they onboarded staff. Sonny shares:
“There was a huge learning curve to start with for both us and Birdie. Initially the onboarding was slow as it wasn’t clear which order to begin onboarding to the platform. This delayed us going live. Once we’d spoken with the Birdie team and cleared the confusion, onboarding was rapid.”
During the initial stages of transition, Lauren and Sonny were working between both systems which meant they were essentially doubling up on work. They also had to pay a notice period on their previous service which increased costs. Despite the initial drawbacks, Sonny and Lauren found the support from the Birdie team to be excellent:
“There was so much training available, the team were also accessible via a live chat in case we needed support on-the-go. Their smart AI systems would even recommend training or support articles based on our activity. We felt really supported.”
The benefits of Birdie
Having used the Birdie system for one and a half years now, Lauren and Sonny share the benefits they’ve experienced utilising the system.
The system offers increased capacity for onboarding. With their previous software, the onboarding process for residents was around one to two people per day, whereas Birdie allows for onboarding around 15 at a time.
Birdie uses an online log which means it’s compatible with multiple devices. This allows the team to input data wherever they are.
The transparent system means that residents are able to access their data which allows families to become more involved in care, as a daughter of a resident shares:
“It’s a really great system, we are really pleased as it allows us to keep in touch, check times people have visited, his mood etc. It’s marvellous. Me and my brother ring each other and say ‘have you seen the app’, and we work out if there is anything we need to do. When I am holiday, I can check on him, it’s hard to remember what it was like before this system! Birdie are part of the NHS Assured Solutions List which means they have been assured by NHS England. Care services looking to adopt a digital social care record for the first time could be eligible for funding to adopt a digital social care record.”
Birdie are part of the NHS Assured Solutions List which means they have been assured by NHS England. Care services looking to adopt a digital social care record for the first time could be eligible for funding to adopt a digital social care record.
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